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Schwerer Kampfpanzer II
History again more alternate history )))))). continuing on the kpz-1 stuff lmao After the fielding of newer allied tanks with improved rendered the Kampfpanzer I's 10.5 cm gun less effective, development once again commenced in September 1945 under the new schwerer Kampfpanzer project to produce a heavy combat tank. The aim of the schwerer Kampfpanzer project was to produce a tank with heavy armor protection that could deliver long range fire support to the KPz-1. Many of the design requirements were off of lessons learned from the development of the Tiger, and in essence the project outline was to create a more compact Maus.. - Maximum weight is set to be 64 tonnes to ensure minimal bridge transport ability. - Armed with Rheinmetall's newest 128 mm rifled anti-tank gun. - Secondary machine gun & cannon armament. - Capable of mounting infrared equipment for night combat. - Maximum speed of at least 36 km/h. - Maximum inclination of 40° from the vertical. - Maximum range of 483 miles. Characteristics Crew * Driver He's the driver. There's nothing special. * Gunner Operates the gun and the Fledermaus (Bat) fire control system used in conjunction with it. * Assistant Gunner In the position where the loader normally would be. Operates the Teufel (Devil) coincidence rangefinder and covers maintenance of the autoloader. * Commander He's the commander. There's nothing special. Armor The frontal armor ranged from 144 to 300 mm. The side boasted 116 to 138 mm with additional 75 mm side skirts adapted from the E-100 project, with the rear being 84 to 96 mm. The top armor ranged from 16 to 27 mm in thickness. Armament The main armament(s) of the vehicle were strictly autoloaded guns, to stress the ability of placing multiple accurate shots on target. In general, the easiest way to destroy a vehicle is to simply shoot it up until it is of no use to the enemy. The autoloading system for both guns were adapted from the 15 cm (150 mm) Gerät 50, a prototype heavy anti-aircraft gun. Modifications were made to allow the separation of the gun and autoloader during elevation, and the gun would return to +0 degrees to reload a new round. 12.8 cm Gun Originally, the main armament of the sKPz-II is the 12.8 cm Panzerjägerkanone 48, derived from the experimental 12.8 cm K 43 L/61. With a 62 caliber barrel, it is used in conjunction with an autoloader mounted in the rear turret bustle. Ammunition choices range from APDS, HE, APCBC, and HEAT. The autoloader enables the Pjk. 48 to fire at a rate of 7 rounds per minutes. It is fitted with a single-plane stabilizer. The autoloader could hold 24 rounds. It was not of a drum-type autoloader, so one magazine was filled with AP type shells (APHE, APDS) and the other used HEAT or HE. 15 cm Gun Another armament design was the 15 cm Schwere-Panzerkanone (G). It is also used in conjunction with an autoloader (although different from the 12.8 cm), however ammunition capacity is reduced to a mere 9 rounds. It boasts a 42 caliber barrel, and (unlike most tank guns of the era) has a smoothbore design (G = Glattrorhkanone, "smooth cannon", i.e. "smoothbore cannon") The gun produced heavy recoil, even when placed on a heavy tank like the sKPz-II. Even with a 2-plane stabilizer active at low speeds, the recoil would still throw off the aim of the gunner. Destructive power was immense, capable of ripping the turret off of a T30 with full caliber APCBC at out to 2000 meters. However, the heavy ammunition and massive recoil limited overall combat effectiveness at longer ranges. The transition to a smoothbore gun meant that the 15 cm gun could no longer use APDS ammunition. This is because the rifling is no longer there to assist in shell stabilization, therefore the shell needs other ways of stabilizing itself mid-flight. It used an early form of an APFSDS round that more closely resembled American HEAT-FS rounds. It could also fire APCBC, HE and HEAT. Secondary Armament Secondary armament consists of a 7.92 mm MG 34 along with a 15 mm MG 151. The use of both of these weapons was a lesson learnt from use of the KPz-I in an infantry support role, where the size of the 15x96mm rounds limited the total capacity allowed. Field kits /U1, /U2, /U3, and /U4 allowed for the installation of an extra machine gun, cannon, or a dual MG mount at the commander's station for anti-aircraft use. - Kit /U1 added an MG 34 machine gun with AP-T ammunition - Kit /U2 added an MG 131 machine gun with API-c (cermet core) ammunition - Kit /U3 added an MG 151/20 cannon with HEFI-T (minengeschoss) ammunition - Kit /U4 added a dual MG 42 mount with AP-T ammunition Variants * Ausf. A - First production model. * Ausf. B - Second production model. Improvements to drive train and engine compartment protection. * Ausf. C - Applique armor bosses added to the lower glacis plate. Side armor bosses adjusted to allow for the fitting of more heavily armored derivatives. ** Ausf. C/1 - Sub-variant armed with a 150 mm Schwerer-Panzerkanone. From this point on, xyz/1 indicated a variant armed with the 150. Combat service Retraining of troops to crew the new tank took up to March 1946 to conclude, due to slow initial production rates. Panzer battalions issued with the sKPz-2 were mainly deployed on the Eastern Front due to the perceived threat that was posed by newer Soviet armor, in particular the IS-3. Many were redeployed to the Western Front due to an even greater threat of allied armor like the T30 and T32. The sKPz-2's fire control system in conjunction with the rangefinder enabled it to destroy any allied tank that had been in service from that time at extreme distances. However, high-caliber howitzer armed vehicles like the ISU-152 and the T30 proved a threat due to the weak top armor. The hull was overall longer than preceding heavy tanks like the Tiger, and even with neutral steering the hull traverse took longer to fully rotate than many of it's adversaries. When all 36 shells in the autoloader had been expended, the assistant gunner needed to open up access to the autoloader on the roof of the turret, reset the loading mechanism and manually insert the two-piece shells one by one, a task that was dangerous during combat maneuvers. It was overall a powerful vehicle, but was tricky to utilize it's full effectiveness. Specifications *Type: Heavy tank *Place of origin: Germany *In service: 1946 *Produced: 1946 *Number built: 516 *Weight: 61 tonnes *Length: 12.63 m *Width: 4.633 m *Height: 3 m *Crew: 4 *Armor: **Upper glacis: *150 mm, sloped 15-20° (equiv. 438-620 mm) **Lower glacis: *144 mm, sloped 45° (equiv. 203 mm) **Hull side: *116-138 mm + 75 mm side skirts **Hull rear: 84-96 mm **Gun mantlet: 330 mm **Turret front: *279 mm **Turret side: *180 mm **Turret rear: *107 mm *Armament **Main gun: 12.8 cm Panzerjägerkanone 48 L/62 (48 rounds, 36 in autoloader) **Secondary armament: x1 15 mm MG 151 machine gun (500 rounds), x1 7.92 mm MG 34 (1000 rounds) *Engine: Mayback HL 234 (900 bhp) *Suspension: torsion-bar suspension *Speed: 38 mph *''Note: asterik indicates rough armor thickness due to the incorporation of cermet materials in the armor.'' Ammunition 12.8 cm Pjk. 48 15 cm sPzk(G) Gallery SKPz-2.PNG Category:Tank Category:Vehicle